Patna: Nitish Kumar took oath on November 20 as Bihar chief minister for a record tenth time. Twenty-six ministers also took oath with him. The moment looked familiar until one name surprised everyone. Deepak Prakash, son of Rajya Sabha MP Upendra Kushwaha, walked in as a new minister. His entry created a sudden buzz across Patna’s political circles.

Prakash is neither a member of the Bihar Legislative Assembly nor the Bihar Legislative Council. Even then, Governor Arif Mohammed Khan administered the oath to him as the sole minister from the Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM), a political party founded by his father.

Many expected a different name. Talk around the capital pointed towards Kushwaha’s wife Snehlata. She won from Sasaram and her name floated in the lists of likely ministers. The fi

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